What Does Dysphasia Mean in Medical Terms?

Dysphasia is a disorder that impairs your capacity to generate and comprehend spoken language. Dysphasia can also impede reading, writing, and gesturing. Therefore, it is essential to know what dysphasia does mean in medical terms.

This article will answer the question “What does Dysphasia mean in medical terms?”, talk about how to diagnose it, treat dysphasia, and answer some frequently asked questions.

Meaning of Dysphasia in Medical Terms

Dysphasia is frequently confused with other conditions. For example, it is occasionally mistaken with dysarthria, a speech impairment. It is also possible to mistake it with dysphagia, a swallowing condition.

Dysphasia is a communication problem. It happens when the brain parts responsible for converting ideas into spoken language are compromised and unable to operate correctly. As a result, people with dysphasia frequently struggle with verbal communication.

Brain injury causes dysphasia. Strokes are the leading cause of brain injury that results in dysphasia. Infections, head traumas, and tumors are some of the other reasons.

How to Diagnose Dysphasia?

Dysphasia typically arises unexpectedly, such as after a head injury. When it occurs without an apparent reason, it is frequently a symptom of another ailment, such as a stroke or a brain tumor. If you are suffering signs of dysphasia, you should see your doctor right away.

Your doctor or physician may suggest one or more of the tests below:

• A physical exam
• A neurological exam
• Ability tests, including reflexes, strength, and feeling
• Imaging tests, including an MRI scan
• A speech-language evaluation

Tests can include:

X-ray with a contrast material (barium X-ray). You consume a barium solution, covering your esophagus and making it visible on X-rays. Your doctor can then observe changes in the structure of your esophagus and analyze the muscle activity.

Your doctor may also have you take solid food or a tablet laced with barium in order to see the muscles in your throat as you swallow or to search for obstructions in your esophagus that the liquid barium solution may miss.

Dynamic swallowing study. You consume barium-coated meals of varying consistency. This test visualizes these items as they pass down your throat. The photos may reveal issues with the synchronization of your mouth and throat muscles during swallowing and determining if food is entering your breathing tube.

A visual examination of your esophagus (endoscopy). By passing a flexible, lighted instrument (endoscope) down your throat, your healthcare provider is able to get a closer look at your esophagus. Biopsies of the esophagus may be conducted to determine if there is inflammation, eosinophilic esophagitis, narrowing, or cancer.

Fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). The medical professional may use a special camera and lighted tube (endoscope) to examine your throat when you try to swallow.

Esophageal muscle test (manometry). An esophageal manometer measures the muscle contractions of the esophagus as you swallow using a small tube connected to a pressure recording device.

Imaging scans. A CT scan, which takes detailed images of your body’s bones and soft tissues using a series of X-ray images and computer processing, or an MRI scan, can provide clear images of organs and tissues utilizing a magnetic field and radio waves.

Note: The symptoms of dysphasia might be referred to as “aphasia” by your physician.

What are the Treatment Options for Dysphasia?

Language skills can be regained without therapy in mild cases of dysphasia. The majority of the time. Nevertheless, speech and language treatment are utilized to improve language abilities.

Speech and language therapy experts work with people who have dysphasia to help them retrieve as much language as possible while also learning how to employ compensatory tactics and other ways of communication. In addition, speech and language treatment are used to recover speech and language abilities in milder dysphasia.

Among the exercises used to enhance speech and language are:

• Sound discrimination exercises
• Pronunciation drills.
• Auditory memory exercises include listening activities, information processing, and recall
• Vocabulary activities to help you learn new words.
• Semantic exercises to increase context and meaning comprehension.
• Morpho-syntactic tasks, such as understanding when to correctly employ pronouns and prepositions while building a phrase.

Dysphasia Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about dysphasia:

What Happens If Dysphagia is Not Treated?

If left untreated, dysphagia can lead to tension and suffering. In addition, when swallowing is uncomfortable or difficult, people tend to eat less and drink fewer fluids, which can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, weight loss, and a lower quality of life.

Dysphagia, if left undetected and untreated, can result in aspiration or the introduction of food or liquid into the airway. Aspiration raises the likelihood of acquiring pneumonia.

With this in mind, it’s worth noting that pneumonia is the most significant cause of mortality in children under the age of five and the fifth-largest cause of death in individuals over the age of 65 who have progressive neurological problems (e.g., Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron Disease, Huntington’s Disease).

What Should I Do If Someone I Know Has a Swallowing Problem?

Your General Practitioner can provide a referral to a speech pathologist who specializes in diagnosing and treating dysphagia if you or a loved one think your swallowing challenges might be caused by dysphagia.

Conclusion

Dysphasia is a medical term that means a language impairment that impairs one’s capacity to generate and comprehend spoken words.

Although substantial progress can be achieved, complete communication abilities following a brain injury are not always feasible. Treatment is most successful when it begins as quickly as possible after the stroke or damage, so discuss your symptoms with your doctor as soon as they appear.

Dysphasia therapy is available in Las Vegas through Health & Care Professional Network. Our professional staff assists individuals with dysphasia in improving their speech and cognitive abilities. Receiving speech therapy services at home provides one-on-one engagement in a setting where the patient is at ease. Treatment can also be tailored to meet real-world functional requirements. For further information, please contact us at (702) 871-9917.

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